SELF-PUB: Six Self-Publishing Success Stories

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Self-Publishing can seem like a long and lonely battle sometimes, so take heart with the stories of these authors who made it big:

Barry Eisler: 

Eisler is a thriller writer with the distinction of having served time in the CIA, which is probably what gave him the balls to walk away from a six-figure contract for his John Rain books. He now publishes his own ebooks and has retained the rights to his previous works.

Amanda Hocking: 

The Texan author had 17 unpublished novels sitting on her hard drive when she decided to self-publish them through Amazon. Through self-promotion, social media, and already having the manuscripts to satisfy the emerging demand, Hocking managed to make $2.5million in the first two years of going it alone. She is now signed to a traditional publisher, a move which she welcomes.

EL James:

Whatever you think of them and the ‘New Adult’ publishing craze that followed it, The Fifty Shades of Grey book have been phenomenally successful. First published online, the books spread like wildfire, and had soon made the former TV producer a cool $95million.

Nick Spalding:

Spalding turned his humourous prose into gold by selling his short funny books through Amazon. Titles such as Life with No Breaks and Life on a High, which were written in one sitting, sold well and now Spalding has a six figure book deal.

Edgar Allen Poe:

I’m not sure if you’d call Poe successful (dying young and penniless), but he made his mark on the literary landscape, created the detective novel and inspired generations. He self-published Tamerlane and Other Poems in 1827. 

William King:

William King was already a successful writer, having contributed to the Games Workshop Warhammer books, and used his small fanbase to launch his original series as ebooks. His brilliant blog includes a breakdown of exactly how much he made from self-publishing in a year, and lots of tips on how to get your book out to the masses. These make for great case studies for writers thinking of going it alone.